Jacob of Liebenstein (german: Jakob von Liebenstein) (1462–1508) was the

Archbishop-Elector of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

from 1504 to 1508.

Biography

Jacob of

Liebenstein Liebenstein is a village and a former municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the municipality Geratal Geratal is a municipality in the district Ilm-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany. It was ...

was born in 1462, the son of Peter II of Liebenstein and his wife Agnes (née Kaltental). Groomed for a life in the church from an early age, Jacob became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of Family of de Haas in the Netherlands.

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in 1470. He was sent to study at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

(''Rektor'' 1474; ''lic. jur.'' 1482). He became

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Mainz Cathedral in 1497. Following the death of

Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild (1442–1504) was Archbishop of Mainz and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1484, imperial chancellor from 1486, and leader of the reform faction within the Empire. Biography The son of George, Count ...

in 1504, the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of Mainz elected Jacob as

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

on 30 December 1504. His reign is marked by the expansion of the size of the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

. Jacob was also a supporter of

Imperial Reform Imperial Reform ( la, Reformatio imperii, german: Reichsreform) is the name given to repeated attempts in the 15th and 16th centuries to adapt the structure and the constitutional order () of the Holy Roman Empire to the requirements of the early ...

, and participated enthusiastically in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

held in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

in 1505 and the Diet of

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

in 1507, where he was in favour of financial reforms and the creation of the ''

Reichskammergericht The ''Reichskammergericht'' (; ; la, Iudicium imperii) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal ...

''. Jacob expelled all

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

from the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1507 (they had already been expelled from the city of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

in 1470). Jacob died on 15 September 1508 and is buried in Mainz Cathedral. His funerary monument was designed by

Hans Backoffen Hans Backoffen (c. 1460-1475 — 21 September 1519, Mainz) was a German sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in ...

References

*This page is based on this page on

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

.
Brück, Anton Ph., „Jakob von Liebenstein“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 10 (1974), S. 315
*Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, "Jakob von Liebenstein", in Erwin Gatz (ed.):''The bishops of the Holy Roman Empire from 1448 to 1648. A Biographical Dictionary'' (Berlin: Duncker and Humblot 1996) {{Authority control 1462 births 1508 deaths Archbishop-Electors of Mainz